Lakes "Cloven" CD

Imported from R.I.P. Society in Australia. "Melbourne man Sean Baileys solo incarnation Lakes has always operated along truly punk paradigms. His music saturated with the sort of DIY feel and energy that has circulated in the hearts and souls of every artist that has ever wanted to work outside the limited horizons of money and fame. His latest offering, Cloven, carries a heavy atmosphere of menace and a primitivist approach to both composition and technique. Cloven has two halves that are musically distinct but still faithful to Baileys artistic philosophy. Side One has songs that are based around ominous, hammered drums and long held keyboard notes marching in uneasy lockstep. In a way, they are songs that are battlegrounds where sounds don’t blend or work in harmony but jostle and contest each other. A moment on “Silver Perch” reflects this unrest quite well. A period of lull is broken by keyboard that sounds like a sudden blurted statement that breaks some uncomfortable silence. Side Two resembles something more “musical”. The crude guitar strums and one handed rhythm section give way to more schooled sounding guitar playing and songs in a more conventional sense. It gives a feel of some woozy, almost psychedelic dream that doesn’t quite soar to the sky but remains trapped in the bedroom where it sounds like it was recorded. Baileys singing, throughout the record, is a beguiling mix of post-77 belligerence and disgust, conventional indie rock vocals and outsider musical refusal like Jandek circa “I aint got none” or even Miguel Tomasin of Reynols.